PHOENIX, Ariz.– Alabama coach Nick Saban has reiterated his call for the NFL to delay delivering draft feedback to underclassmen until after the college football season is complete.
In the final news conference before Monday night’s College Football Playoff championship game between the Tide and Clemson in Glendale, Saban tried to flex his political clout again to sell the idea of cutting out any unwanted distractions for the players involved before the biggest game of the yea. Saban brought up the issue in discussing Alabama’s 42-35 loss to Ohio State in the Playoff semifinals last year, intimating that some players who received draft grades in December might have lost focus on the game.
He said he first tried to raise the issue privately among coaches before going public but didn’t get much momentum behind it, largely because it doesn’t impact coaches who don’t have teams in the Playoff. In fact, some prefer the current system because they know early on who’s leaving, allowing them time to recruit a replacement.
“The NFL moved the draft back,” he said. “I wish they’d make a rule that says you can’t even give a player what his draft status is from the NFL playoff committee until they’ve finished their competition as a college player so you don’t put them and their families in this situation where there is a big timing issue relative to the committee.
“Now if you finish your season Dec. 6, you can make a decision. If you’re finishing it on Jan. 11 then you get the information after that but you have significant amount of time to make that decision when you finish playing so you can stay focused on what you need to do to play well because it benefits all these players to play well in the game.”
Several underclassmen for both Alabama and Clemson, including Crimson Tide running back Derrick Henry, the junior Heisman Trophy winner, are likely going to enter the NFL Draft shortly after the championship game. Clemson junior All America defensive end Shaq Lawson has already said he is turning pro.
“Obviously it’s just two of us left at this point,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney added. “You get the grades, and some guys, they didn’t get the grade that they want, so they’re pouting a little bit, and got to pick themselves up. Then you get the guy that gets the grade he wants, so it’s just … It really should be when the season is over, whenever that is, and they should hold those things.”
The deadline to declare for the NFL Draft is Jan. 18.
